NGPZ - More t'shootin' ...bike dies after highway run

Near dead battery at idle speed where the alternator isn't putting out any
power can cause poor ignition spark, but I'd look at the gas tank vent
first, though with that I'd think that you'd notice some fuel starvation
symptoms on the highway too.
Good luck with it,
Jeff in Washington
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:37:40 -0700
From: "Steven Bixby" <steven at bixbys.net>
Subject: NGPZ - More t'shootin' ...bike dies after highway run
To: "Kawasaki GPZ1100 discussion" <gpzlist at micapeak.com>
Message-ID:
<373890460708171137s7fea9af0x7a716b3222cabf78 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Well, another odd thing going on. My wife's Ninja 250 quits when she
comes off a freeway (after typical 70-80 mph run for at least several
minutes). When she exits and comes to a light or whatever, clutches
in and poof, bike quits.
It started happening just a couple days ago and usually started right
up, but today she messaged me and said it took a bit longer to
restart, only she was in a toll lane for the (San Francisco) Bay
Bridge - a horrible place to stall out.
Any suggestions for what could cause this?
I don't think it's over-cooling; it's liquid cooled and I think it
runs warm enough that the t'stat is wide open after it warms up
anyway, but I could be wrong. I'm thinking it's some other issue.
Things I know that are potential existing problems:
Battery is on it's last legs; it starts and charges OK I believe, but
the battery capacity is getting pretty low. I have a new battery
waiting at the shop now.
Head-cover leaking - there's a bit of oil in the spark-plug holes and
around the cylinder head cover - I have gaskets on the way for the
next valve-adjustment opportunity, but could oil in the wells cause
something like this? (I'm thinking "probably not".)
By the way, regarding the slow-to-idle issue - I didn't work on range
bikes this week, so i wasn't able to try the vacuum check tricks.
Next week probably.
End of GPZList Digest, Vol 9, Issue 17
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